Medical imaging often includes creating images of regions of the human body for clinical purposes such as examination, diagnosis and/or treatment. These images may be acquired by a number of different imaging modalities including, for example, ultrasound (US), magnetic resonance (MR), positron emission tomography (PET), computed tomography (CT), mammograms (MG), digital radiology (DR), computed radiology (CR) or the like. In a number of example medical imaging workflows, such as in the case of a picture archiving and communication system (PACS), an image study for a patient may include one or more acquired images of the patient. A radiologist or other health care provider may review the images for diagnostic or other purposes.
A report is oftentimes generated, such as by a radiologist or other health care provider, based upon the images of a patient. A report generally includes information identifying the patient, the image study and the like as well as content describing the author's interpretation of the images. The reports are generally comprised of free-form text and may be created in various manners. For example, reports may be dictated and then transcribed, either manually or based upon voice recognition. To facilitate consistency, reports may be generated utilizing structured templates and macros that define various sections to be populated with free-form text.
The reporting systems utilized by radiologists and other health care providers to generate reports are not only diverse, but are typically distinct from the imaging systems. Moreover, the textual format of the reports stands in stark contrast to the visual nature of the images generated and presented by an imaging system that are the basis for the report. As a result of the differences between the textual format of the reports and the visual format of the images and the differences between the reporting and imaging systems, the efficiency with which a report may be generated may be less than as desired and the richness of the data available in the report may be somewhat limited.
By way of example, a majority of radiology reports are generated in the United States utilizing voice recognition systems. In order to generate a report utilizing a voice recognition system, a typical workflow involves the radiologist selecting an image study from a PACS worklist and then opening a PACS viewer. The voice recognition system may also be launched, either automatically or in response to actuation by the radiologist. The PACS may then transfer basic identifiers to the voice recognition system including, for example, a patient identifier, a study identifier and a user identifier. The PACS viewer may load the images of the image study in a predefined configuration in which the images are considered to “hang”. The predefined configuration in which the images “hang” may be defined by a display protocol (DP). Display protocols generally arrange the images on the display in accordance with a predetermined pattern that has been determined to be appropriate for the type of study. The predetermined pattern defined by the display protocol may depend upon the modality type, the procedure type, the body region and/or the specific preferences of the radiologist.
Once launched, the voice recognition system may load a report template having a predefined order which is specific to the reporting application and the site. However, the ordering of the report template does not necessarily match the arrangement of the images as defined by the display protocol. As such, the radiologist may be required to flip back and forth between the various images presented by the imaging system to review the body regions or organs in the order defined by the report template. While reviewing the images, the radiologist may dictate a variety of information relating to the image study including, for example, measurements recorded on the images and/or the comparison studies that were viewed including their date, orientation, etc. The resulting report may then be stored for subsequent review, such as by a primary care physician, a surgeon or other health care provider.